making memories through food, wine and travel

The Sooner the Better

It’s time once again to return to our state night adventures and while we thoroughly enjoyed our time with Hawaiian cuisine, it’s time to head back to the mainland. For these next few recipes, Mike is taking us to The Sooner State, Oklahoma. We’ve driven through Oklahoma a few times, including once during a terrible storm complete with tornado warnings. The wind was so intense that it was blowing the rain sideways and we had no choice but to stop and ride out the storm (I’ll have you know it’s taking all my will power not to include another 70’s song link here). Oh, and did I mention that we were in the process of moving across the country in a rental truck packed full of all our earthly possessions, our car hooked up to the back and our only cat riding shotgun? Talk about a hair-raising experience. Despite our brief and harrowing stay in Oklahoma, we have no memories of the food. In fact, I’m not sure we ever took the time to eat while we were there.

Fortunately we came across several websites in our search for Sooner cuisine, including the Made in Oklahoma Coalition which inspired this recipe for our Bourbon Steak Quesadillas with Peach Salsa. We started the recipe yesterday by preparing the peach salsa with peaches, a Serrano pepper, a tomato, a bit of red pepper and green onions.

We chopped up all the ingredients, squeezed the juice from a lime and measured out a bit of apple cider vinegar.

We then tossed everything together, seasoned it with salt and a bit of agave. Once combined, we covered it and set in the fridge to marinate overnight. (For another delicious peach salsa recipe, make sure to check out Just a Smidgen’s here.)

Now I was all set to finish up with the recipe this afternoon when Kay from Pure Complex posted a recipe for Sugar Bourbon Steak. It was meant to be. So we grabbed the sirloin, bourbon, brown sugar and red pepper flakes.

We rubbed the steak with the brown sugar and red pepper, seasoned it with sea salt and tossed it into a resealable bag with the bourbon and remaining seasonings. We refrigerated the steak for about 2-1/2 hours and then set it out to come up to room temperature. In the meantime, we got to work caramelizing the onion in some butter and salt.

When the onions were nearing completion we heated our grill pan over a high flame and tossed on the steak. We grilled the steak about two minutes per side, flipping a few times until it was cooked to medium.

We then let the steak rest and finished off our onions.

Next we sliced the steak into thin strips and tossed it with the caramelized onions.

We layered the steak and onions onto three large tortilla shells and Miss A sprinkled them with cheese.

We then grilled the steak quesadillas in a skillet over medium heat until the tortillas browned and the cheese melted. We served our bourbon steak quesadillas with the peach salsa and a wedge of lime.

When we sat down to eat Mr. N instantly exclaimed, “Ew! Gross!” Then he took a bite. And another bite. Then he asked if he could have more. This earned a solid 3 spoons from him.

Mike and I were both instantly hooked on this meal. It is seriously out of this world good, and it takes a lot to get me to say that about meat. The flavors were intense and full. It was a major party for the taste buds. The sweet bourbon steak combined with the salty-sweet onions and topped with the tangy peach salsa…WOW! Mike and I both agreed, this is definitely a 4 spoon dinner.

As for Miss A, I’m kind of shocked she didn’t enjoy this more. She is the biggest steak eater in the house (even next to Mike), she loves and I mean loves cheese, and she has yet to meet a fruit she didn’t like. So I’m not sure if it was the fact she seemed to have managed to eat an entire tortilla shell during the time it took us to set the table and serve the meal, or if she was just in one of her not willing to try things without some coaxing moods, but she was pretty reluctant about this meal. She did eventually try some of the quesadilla and ate one slice willingly (and without spitting anything out or hiding it under the table) making this meal 2-1/2 spoons for her. She did say the tortilla shell was 4 spoons though. Go figure.

Well, for our first taste of Oklahoma, I’m sold. This will be a meal that I crave and one that I will have to make again, and probably again after that. It is that good. In fact, it makes me almost want to go back and brave tornado season and properly visit Oklahoma. This time we’ll be leaving all our worldly possessions at home, and maybe waiting until the kids are grown too. 😉 Happy weekend everyone!

Bourbon Steak Quesadillas and peach salsa…that is truly a dish after my own heart and tastebuds. I can’t wait to try this. We had quesadillas tonight as a matter of fact, but they pale by comparison to how these even sound!

Kristy I am so happy you LOVED this steak. And I love how you prepared it. I can totally see myself enjoying it this way (which is why I’m going to take your recipe and make it myself :)). I was surprised that Miss A kinda shyed away from it since I always thought she loved steak. But I think one day she will love this dish :).

I saw this on Kay’s site too and fell. in. love. I am also not much of a meat eater so if you are singing its praises then I am totally sold and with peach salsa, it really sounds out of this world. Can’t wait to try it out on my family as well and see if it wins them over.

Totally out of this world Geni! I seriously don’t eat a lot of meat. Every now and then I like a good plate of ribs, but I can probably count on one, maybe two, hands how many times I eat red meat in a year. 🙂 These might have me upping that count a bit though.

You gotta love it when a plan comes together. This recipe was truly a collaboration! Reading Miss A’s reaction made me smile. Don’t you hate it when you are positive that they are going to love a dish because it is made up of all the things they love….and then sigh, it doesn’t go over as you thought. It is especially disappointing when you love something and want to make it again!

That trip across the country with the tornado warnings and all your worldly goods traveling with you sounds harrowing. I love the look of these and with the peach salsa I’m sure they would have been delicious and full of flavour. Great recipe and I love your images and think the way you involve your children in all your cooking is wonderful xx

I love hearing about your travelling adventures… I also tend to make food that remind me of a certain time or place. Is their such a thing as a food memory? Probably. Unfortunately I have an inability to cook steak. I turn even the nices cuts into leather. Maybe I can ensue my boyfriends help. Oh, and I had to laugh about Miss A hiding stuff under the table, I used to be famous for that!

There’s got to be such thing as a food memory – at least I know I have tons of them. 🙂 LOL! I’m with you on cooking steak. This was my first real solo attempt and I didn’t even set off the smoke alarm – although I came close. 😉

I’d love to know why Oklahoma is called the “sooner” state? I bet you’re going to tell me that there’s a famous cheese/fruit/dish/grain/bean/liquor from there called “Sooner” or something… I just can’t work it out. Well, I could go look it up actually… I should 😀

There we go, back now, back now: “On April 22, 1889 the Indian Territory was opened to settlers. Thousands of people lined up on the border and, when the signal was given, they raced into the territory to claim their land. Some people went in early to claim their land. They became known as Sooners.”

Sounds like fun 🙂

A bit like this dish! It looks absolutely delicious – beautiful colours, especially in the salsa. I’ve never tried peach salsa before – only regular “tomato” ones.

Bourbon I haven’t had much experience with either. I had some chocolate once sent by a friend in the US which tasted terrible and then I found out it had no bourbon inside… only bourbon flavour… ick. I bet the real thing is far better and I love the idea of the steak in it… bet it gives it a lovely rich flavour.

Oh, and all tied together with cheese and tortillas… absolutely delicious!

You can come over and cook for me anytime 🙂

(P.S. if you’re wondering about the slightly disjointed format of my comment, have a look at the first letter of each paragraph! :))

Thank you Charles and Sally! Now I too know why it’s the Sooner state! I’ve always wondered (just been too lazy to actually go look it up – lol). Cool story too! And Charles, I’ll be happy to whip this meal up for you and your wife anytime as long as you agree to provide dessert. 🙂

The song you are thinking about, is it “against the wind?” When I was a kid riding my bike against the wind, my siblings and I would bust out singing that song! lol
I agree with everyone, this seriously looks awesome!

The cat riding shotgun is a great image. I love the 70s music era, bring it on!

This may well be my favourite Eat Play Love recipe so far… and I know it’s going to be a huge hit with our whole family. BBQ steak alone is a favourite but the bourbon crusted seasoning with caramelized onion… are you kidding me? Match it up with some tangy salsa (that’s one of the nicest salsa recipes I’ve seen in a long time – the peach is gorgeous!) wrap it all up in a melted cheese quesadilla and you have sheer insanity :0). I’m not kidding – if it weren’t that we were all headed to the pub tonight – GO SENS GO – (oops, how did that sneak in there? ;-)) – I would be heading to the grocery store to buy these ingredients immediately! (perhaps demain’s project…). FABuloso!

I’ll have to dig up that picture for you (of the cat riding shotgun!). And you know, this just might be my favorite recipe on here too. I ate a whole stinkin’ quesadilla. I was full about halfway through, but just couldn’t top myself. 🙂 I can’t recommend it strongly enough. And congrats for the win! I can’t go so far as saying go Sens just yet. 😉

Would you believe I was actually cheering for it to be my home state too – back when Mike was interviewing after getting his PhD. 🙂 As for Miss A’s dress…it’s her leotard. She practically lives in it. LOL.

I love this peach salsa too! Extra ingredients would make it so yummy! I saw Kay’s and am dying to try that steak recipe!! Nice to see it all done up, I was just craving the brown sugar and bourbon on top!! Excellent!!

OK. That’s it. Peach is the new mango! Yours is the 2nd peach salsa I’ve seen in the last few days — and both sound delicious! I’ve got to try them, along with this bourbon steak, another recipe which I saw earlier, as well. It’s as if the WordPress universe is telling me to make bourbon steak and to make peach salsa. (What? Telling me last week’s winning Powerball numbers was too hard?)

this is deliciousness….
I have been thinking of making quesadillas, now you have given me this wonderful Idea….
Have a great great weekend my dear…
B/W I am too scared of tornados… Somehow the angry nature scares me to death…

What’s cookin’…

Having returned from our 7-month European sabbatical, we're returning to the kitchens and neighborhoods in our own backyard with a focus on culture, education, history and delicious food. #EatPlayWorld

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.